The Barrow County Board of Education filled the vacant principal position at Winder-Barrow Middle School by promoting from within the system.

The BOE voted at its Tuesday night meeting to name Jennifer Wood as the new principal for the middle school. Woods currently is an assistant principal at Russell Middle School.

Superintendent Wanda Creel said seven candidates applied for the position and all were already employed within the Barrow system.

“As we look at ways to keep our overall budget down, we decided to keep this hire in house,” Creel said.

The promotion of Woods was not unanimous as BOE members Connie Wehunt and Lynn Stevens voted against it.

Prior to the vote when BOE chairman Mark Still asked if there was any discussion on this issue, Stevens said, “I think we’ve already beaten this horse to death.”

The BOE met in a closed session prior to Tuesday’s meeting, causing the start of regular May session to be delayed 10 minutes. After the regular session was complete, BOE member Randall Holland asked to go back into another closed session saying he didn’t believe there had been enough time to discuss the issue.

BOE members went back into another closed session for approximately 10 minutes before returning and voting to hire Woods.

The BOE is continuing to look at ways to keep its overall budget numbers down as concern continues to grow concerning figures for FY 2011.

Recently the BOE approved Creel’s recommendation to reduce the system’s work force by 52 positions although many of those employees will simply be moved into other positions which will be federally funded.

The system’s graduation coaches will now fall under the title of achievement specialists and be funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Creel said that reorganization alone will save the system $200,000.

One assistant superintendent is being cut, leaving the system with three to oversee district services, teaching and learning and facilities and operations.

The BOE is still considering options on closing the Early Learning Center and eliminating transportation for students who live less than 1.5 miles from their respective schools.

School officials are also looking at the percent of insurance it pays for employees.

During Tuesday night’s meeting, assistant superintendent for finance Ken Cato said approximately $3.8 million in ad valorem taxes remains uncollected. Cato said with May arriving and the end of the school year approaching, expenses for the school system would drop.

Currently, the system has $16.8 million in its fund balance, Cato said.

Special Local Option Sales Tax receipts for April were $671,706, up from $548,000 for the previous month, Cato said.

In other business at Tuesday night’s meeting, the BOE voted to move forward on repairs to the Winder-Barrow High School fieldhouse.

Wehunt said she wanted to state that she was voting for the repairs because the system had “so much invested in it.”

BOE member Rickey Bailey said the W. Clair Harris Foundation was the one paying for the facility and not the taxpayers. Wehunt said she agreed with that but noted the system had also donated man hours to the project, which has been in need of repair almost since the start.

I don't understand why they are going to close the Early Learning Center, when they just put a new roof, new a/c units and redecorated the inside just 2 years ago. This is a waste of money. If your child got put in a combo class from this school, did you know, you have to provide transportation to another school.It says "The BOE is still considering options on closing the Early Learning Center", but teachers are being told to pack and be ready to move with no help. This is so sad for our special need kids and our pre-school kids!!!

Closing the Early Learning Center may be a costly mistake for the children of Barrow County. These precious little ones need this unique learning environment to thrive. Moving them back into the elementary schools creates an isolating situation for them as well as for the talented professionals who work with them every day. The Early Learning Center provides them with the structure and security they need to develop emotionally, socially, and academically. It allows them to develop the confidence and self-esteem that is essential to learning. Can you imagine how frightening and intimidating it will be for these four-year- olds when they get on the bus with 4th and 5th graders? Is that really how we want these little ones to begin each day? We made an investment in their future when we created an environment specifically designed to meet their needs by opening the Early Learning Center. All of their resources were centrally located there along with professionals who specialize in the needs of early learners. Sadly, these children will be denied the advantages that we worked so hard to give them when we opened the Early Learning Center. I can only hope that our BOE will reconsider this decision and realize the importance of building a strong foundation for our Pre-K children.

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